Never Let Go
by Linger1536
Summary: What would have happened if Rose had tied her life vest underneath the debris? Rose's hold on Jack's hand tightened while she stared at him with mournful eyes. They were dying. Every small breath she took hurt.


**Disclaimer: Some quotes will be taken from the film Titanic by James Cameron and I take no credit for them whatsoever.**

**I love Titanic, one of my absolute favourite films and I think that part of the reason (besides the acting and stunning effects) is that Jack die. But still who doesn't wish for a happy ending? **

"It's getting quiet."

The lapping of the water grew more increasing as the cries of help became rare. Once in awhile someone would cry out; begging for help, but those pleas stopped filling the night air eventually.

"It's just gonna take a … a couple minutes to get the boats organised." Rose eyes tiredly rose to meet Jack's as he let out a puff of air.

"I don't know about you," his body shook more with each word as the cold numbed his skin, taking away the feeling of sharp knives prickling against it and replacing it with a bluish colour, "but I intend to … w-write a s-strongly worded letter to the …" he struggled against the numbness of his lips, "White Star Line, about all this." A small smile tugged at his lips as he gazed at her before closing his eyes.

Rose's hold on Jack's hand tightened while she stared at him with mournful eyes. They were dying. Every small breath she took hurt. Each time the air filled her lungs they burned, it would almost be less painful not to breath. "I love you, Jack."

His eyes flickered open; desperate and sad. "Don't you do that," he told her harshly, shaking his head slightly, refusing to accept her defeat. "Don't you say your goodbyes. Not yet, do you understand me?"

"I'm so cold." It was everywhere, tearing at her skin with the sharpness of knives. She unlike Jack had yet to be blessed with the numbness.

"Listen, Rose," he whispered catching her eyes with his. "You're gonna get out of here." He took several shallow breaths, ignoring the burn in his lungs. "You're gonna go on … and you're gonna make lots of babies and you are gonna watch them grow. You are gonna die an … an old lady. Warm in her bed."

The water lapped gently around them as he shook his head at her. "Not here. Not this night. Not like this, do you understand me?"

Rose closed her eyes, removing his pleading gaze from her sight. "I can't feel my body," she said as the numbness finally granted her with its presence.

At her words Jack clung tightly to the debris and hoisted himself closer to her. "Winning that ticket, Rose," he began, "was the _best_ thing that ever happened to me. It brought me to you, and I'm thankful for that, Rose." He smiled a strained smile at her which she returned, her lips trembling from the cold and emotion. "I'm _thankful._"

He brought his other hand out of the water to hers. There was no difference in having it under water or above, he could no longer feel anything but the slight tickling in his fingertips. "You must … you must do me this honour," he said, grasping her hand in both of his. "You must promise me that you'll survive. That you won't give up," a sob tore from her throat as his voice cracked with emotion. "No matter what happens. No matter h-how hopless," it was becoming more difficult for him to speak but he fought against, needing her to promise. "Promise me now, Rose … and never let go of that promise."

She held onto his hand tightly, sobbing as reality found its way to her heart; whispering the cruel truth. "I promise."

"Never let go."

With glossy eyes the words he yearned for left her lips. " I will never let go, Jack. I'll never let go."

He smiled, his lower lip splitting open at the gesture causing blood trickle down it. He paid no mind to it, perhaps he did not even acknowledge it as he leaned in and pressed them against her hand.

Both of their eyes closed, their foreheads resting against the cold skin of their clasped hands. She could hear his breathing quicken in an attempt to ward off the cold and she knew what was to come. Gently she removed her hand from his, rousing his attention.

"Rose, w-what are you doing?"

With numb fingers she untied her life vest and removed it from her body, ignoring his cries of protest. She used one hand to push it into the water, holding on to one if its straps while she used her other hand to steady the debris she was lying on. "Can you push it under the board?" she asked through chattering teeth.

With slow agonised movement Jack did as she asked, all while holding onto one of the straps himself. It took Rose several tries to tie the two straps together, her fingers didn't move the way she desired and the numbness caused her to loose her grip on them. When she was certain the knot would not loosen she began to slide her body back into the water.

"Rose!"

She let out a surprised yelp as the water enfolded her. She had thought that she could not become more cold but once again she could feel the sharpness of knives against her skin. The feeling subsided and was soon replaced once more by the familiar numbness.

The water splashed around her as she turned to face Jack, her face grim. "Get on." It took both of them to get him on, by now he was in such a state that all his strength went to keeping his body heated which left him in a constant state of shivers. Rose heaved her upper body onto board with trembling hands. She stayed there a couple of seconds waiting to see if it would give under to their combined weight but when it stayed afloat she rolled on, putting some of her body weight on Jack in an attempt to share warmth.

"_Come Josephine in my flying machine, going up she goes! Up she goes!"_

The song was all that could be heard now in the darkness. The cries for help had stopped minutes earlier, engulfing them all in a silence that was too unbearable for those who were still breathing. Her lips cracked every time she moved them, forming the words which came out in low whispers.

"_Balance yourself like a bird on a beam, in the air she goes! There she goes!"_

She stopped singing as she felt the chest beneath her cheek stop moving. She had been counting his breaths and now there were no more numbers for them. Slowly she turned her face towards his, her eyes filling with moisture. "Jack?"

There was no reply. No tapping of his fingers against the wood to let her know he was still there, when speaking became too difficult.

"Jack!"

"_Up, up, a little bit higher," _whispered a faint voice somewhere above her ear, and she could feel it again, the tiny movement of his chest rise as the cool air filled his lungs.

"Is there anyone alive out there! Can anyone hear me?"

Rose's head rolled in the direction of the voice at the same time as Jack's lids fluttered open, his lashes sticking together from the ice on them.

"There's a boat," whispered Rose as beam of light fell upon them.

Despair rose within in them as the boat passed them, not being able to hear their whispered pleas for rescue. Its light grew smaller and soon they would not be able to see it. With one last desperate fight for life Rose flung herself into the water, swimming towards the deceased officer. It was much more difficult to move in the water without the life vest and with her body contracting with spasms but she managed to grab onto the deck chair the dead officer's body was still clinging to before her legs gave out. With trembling hands she ripped the whistle from his mouth and raised it to her own, blowing furiously.

The light returned and soon hands wrapped around her, hoisting her out of the water and into the boat. Someone wrapped a blanket around her but she shrugged it off pointing frantically in Jack's direction. "Get him! Get him!" she tried desperately to yell but all that came out was a hoarse whisper. The officer who had pulled her out of the water leaned closer to her, his ear almost brushing her lips as he listened to her.

"Turn around!" he ordered. "We need to get the lad."

The last thing Rose saw before she succumbed to exhaustion was Jack being pulled into the lifeboat.

Rose awoke to the sound of a horn. Her eyes flickered open and in the distant she could see a green light being waved back and forth, beckoning them. She heard one of the officers say the name "Carpathia. They were saved." She wanted to remind him of those who had perished, so many innocent people had gone down with the Titanic, most of the passengers had not survived. But she was too tired to speak, too drained and instead of speaking of those horrifying hours when the ship sank, she let her gaze wander over the others who had been rescued from the water. Shivers swept over her body as her eyes settled on the other six people wrapped in layers of blankets. There had been so many in the water, so, so many and there were only seven of them in this boat. Her eyes searched the face of the person lying closest to her but when she saw strands of brown hair peek out from underneath the blankets she quickly averted her eyes, it wasn't him. She raised them to look beyond the person and found herself staring into a set of deep blue eyes which stared intently back at her.

Their hands gripped each others as they gazed up through the rain at the Statue of Liberty greeting them welcome to New York.

"Can I take your names please?"

They tore their eyes away from the majestic sight to look at the kind officer who was holding a board and pen in his hands.

"Dawson," said Rose. "Jack and Rose Dawson."

**The end! I'm not entirely satisfied with it but it'll do. I apologise for any misspellings but it's pretty late here and English isn't my first language so I hope you will be able to overlook my mistakes. Thank you for reading! And please let me know what you thought. **


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